Hell's Kitchen, Oct. 13 – Is Chinese Take-Out Fine Dining?

Chef Wong votes for Dave’s Indian Dish. Chef Ortega believes Kevin’s sauce would have sent that dish over the top, but has to vote for Dave’s dish because of the missing sauce. Chef Khanna also votes for Dave’s dish. Dave’s reward is that all three judges will prepare their signature dishes for him. He also is awarded a set of Denmark Cookware. The losers will prep the entire kitchen, clean the dining room and restock the bar for service tonight. Jean Philippe starts them off with polishing silver.

Dave is joined by his sister and fiancé for lunch in the kitchen. They start out with an Indian Shrimp dish, followed by Mexican and lastly Chinese. There is no way my stomach would be able to handle all of those different flavors and cuisines in one sitting.

After Dave is done eating and saying goodbyes to his family, he heads up to the patio area for some one-on-one time with himself and his cigarettes. Honestly, I don’t think anyone has ever done this before. It would make sense, though, to go down to the kitchen and help prep it. Last week we saw Tennille have trouble with the service because she didn’t know the specials and the menus. To me it doesn’t seem like an advantage to miss the advanced work on the menu prior to service.

Chef Ramsay gives his pep talk before service and informs them that they will each work the pass tonight. He is looking for their leadership skills. He tells them that they run the kitchen or the kitchen will run them.

Service tonight starts out strong, which is rarely a sign of things to come. Kevin is called first to run the pass. He starts off strong. Scott puts out a halibut instead of sea bass to try to trick him. He catches it and gets a “well-spotted” from Chef Ramsay. Now this trick is Hell’s Kitchen 101. After all the seasons of Scott trying to let things slip by, I would think they should be on the look-out for it.

Ariel is slowing things down for Kevin, and you have to wonder if that is deliberate. She puts up overcooked lamb, then Kevin starts riding all the lamb she is sending. If she is doing this deliberately, she is playing a very dangerous game. Kevin asks again for the lamb, and she tells him 5 more minutes. Dave has to love this power struggle between his two competitors. At the end of it all, Kevin gets a well done, and Dave is asked to take a turn.

It looks like Dave is trying to lead by intimidation. He flaps his towel at Heather, Chef Ramsay’s Sous Chef and previous Hell’s Kitchen winner. She is taking too long with the asparagus. People will never respect you if all you can do is try to intimidate them. He then tells Scott, Chef Ramsay’s other Sous Chef that he is using the wrong spoon. Scott tells him to watch it as Dave is obviously crossing the boundaries. He then kicks one of the stoves and starts screaming. Personally, I think he needs another cigarette; he has morphed into Joseph on a bad day.

Jean Philippe comes to the pass to speak with him, and he tells him to be quiet. This is no way to run a restaurant. Good chef or not, he is killing his chances to make it to the final two. The food is moving out quickly and customers are happy, but I can’t imagine being able to keep a staff if that is how you operate. Chef Scott is up to his old tricks again and substitutes spinach puree for the asparagus puree in the risotto. I wonder if there is a part of Chef Scott that is wishing for him to be able to mess up Dave. I think I would be worried if he catches it that he might throw it on me or something.

Dave tastes it and sends it out. Scott again tricks him when he doesn’t sear the tuna. Chef Ramsay is standing right there repeatedly saying “focus on your dish”, and again he serves the dishes. Dave rallies at the end of his time on the pass.

Ariel is the last to try the pass and takes control of it well. Heather is up now to trick Ariel with parsnip puree instead of potatoes. She tastes them and goes ahead and serves. Chef Ramsay asks her what she tastes when he stops the order, and she says that it needs more cream.

I don’t understand, though. Both Dave and Ariel tasted the food they sent out even though it was wrong. When asked, they both comment that they need to taste everything. Well yes, but you do taste everything? Could it be there is something wrong with their palettes?

Scott substitutes salmon for sea bass and Ariel catches that one. Ariel starts screaming out too many tickets, which confuses Kevin. Is he doing the same thing to her she did to him? Again, Dave can sit back and let them throw each other under the bus. Chef Ramsay needs to step in and get control back in the kitchen. Service is completed.

Chef Ramsay has a tough decision to make as the all had their ups and downs. He asks each of them to tell him who they think does not belong there, and sends them off to think about it. Ariel is going to go after Kevin, Kevin is going to go after Ariel. Dave is once again sitting in a good position. The question is, does he vote off the person he thinks is stronger so that he would go up against a weaker competitor in the final?